


A Lost Canary's Return

by battlecry7473



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death Fix, F/M, Laurel Lance Lives, Post-Episode: s04e18 Eleven-Fifty-Nine, retconning Eleven-Fifty-Nine with no regrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-01-24 15:23:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21340426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/battlecry7473/pseuds/battlecry7473
Summary: Oliver finds an intruder in the base, and it's the one person he hoped it could be.
Relationships: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen
Comments: 15
Kudos: 42





	1. Oliver

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously this is obviously canon divergent. Laurel Lance is my favorite character in Arrow, and I hate what the writers did to her. I also wanted to write my own fic about what if she hadn't died, and this happened.

Oliver sucked in a breath, all the air leaving his chest like he took a direct punch to the gut.

First the alien hallucinations, and now this?

There, in front of the Black Canary costume case, stood someone he never thought he’d see again: Laurel Lance.

She’d turned at his entrance and was smiling at him. “Hi, Ollie.”

“Impossible,” he breathed. His feet carried him forward without his permission. He had to force himself to stop no matter how desperately he wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let go. “You died. I was there. But now, you’re here and- you _ died_.”

Laurel, or the woman who _ appeared _ to be her, nodded as he spoke. “I know. I know, and I did,” she agreed. “But Sara, she brought me back.”

Oliver’s jaw dropped slightly, and he stared at the woman in bewilderment. “What?” he asked breathlessly, nearly inaudible. “Why didn’t she say anything?”

“Something about multiple timelines being affected, and she had to find the right one to bring me back. I don’t know. I don’t understand all the intricacies of time travel, I just know that I asked her to bring me back to your present,” Laurel explained. She shifted on her feet, her hands twitching at her sides. “I know that this is a lot to ask, and you can say no, but I died and was brought back to life, literally, and apparently I’ve missed a lot, but can I please hug you?”

Oliver didn’t even respond before he moved to envelop her in his arms and pulled her to his chest. She melted into his embrace, and he only tightened his grip. He didn’t know how or why she was here, but he wouldn’t question it.

Unless… 

“Are you really my Laurel?” He winced at the question and immediately rephrased, “Our Laurel?”

After everything, how could he be sure this wasn't some sort of after-effects of the hallucination? Or what if this was some impostor? He so desperately wanted to believe this was his Laurel,but how was he supposed to know?

Laurel pulled back with a small smile. “I know it’s a lot to take in,” she said sympathetically. “And, I don’t blame you for having doubts.” She reached out and cupped his cheek, wiping away tears that had fallen down his face unbeknownst to him. “Just before senior year of high school you convinced my parents to let me go with your family to Vancouver for your dad’s business trip,” she started, her voice hoarse. She cleared her throat and continued. “On one of the nights, there was a dinner function that you said was for ‘the old, stuck up geezers to have a pissing contest’, and the two of us snuck Thea out and we walked around town for hours. We ended up at a pizza place with an arcade. You won Thea a pink teddy bear.” She laughed lightly, wiping away a few tears from her own face. “Your mom was furious when we finally went back. Your dad wasn’t bothered too much. My dad threatened to come up and drag me home when I called him after we got back to the hotel to tell him I was safe.”

Oliver sighed and his body sagged in relief as he pulled Laurel back into his arms and held onto her with all of his strength. “God, Laurel, you don’t know how much I missed you,” he gasped into her hair. He gently kissed the top of her head. Dammit if he was exceeding his boundaries, he _ needed _ the contact. “Everything has been a mess without. And that’s not your fault, but, god, it’s been a mess. Your dad left town to grieve. Sara hasn’t been heard from. And Thea, Thea can barely stand to be in your guys’ apartment without you.”

Laurel held onto him, molding herself to his chest. “I’m sorry," she said in a strained whisper. "I should have fought harder, I should have-”

“No, no, this was not your fault. I should have protected you. I was the team leader.”

Laurel sniffed and nodded. “How about we agree that we both do our best to not get killed in the field in the future?”

“I can agree to that.” He breathed her in, still not believing she was here. 

All the things they’d said at the hospital just before she died, and then she was gone, and he didn’t believe he’d ever get to see her again.

He wasn’t going to waste this chance.

“Listen, about what you said in the hospital that night-”

Laurel tensed and pulled away, an alarmed expression on her face. “Oliver, you don’t need to say anything back.”

He shook his head and gently clasped his hands over hers. “No, I need to say this because I didn’t think I would ever get a chance to.” He tipped her chin up as she looked away and looked right into her eyes, a shade of green he could weep over seeing again. “I love you. I love you, Laurel Lance, even if I don’t deserve your love back. I never treated you as you should have been, and I hurt you time and time again, and really, I don’t deserve your love,” he professed, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. “I know you think I’m saying this because of what you said, and maybe I am, but only because everything that happened finally got my head out of my ass and made me realize what I was missing.”

Laurel exhaled shakily, tears brimming in her eyes. “Oliver-”

“No, no, I took you and your love, your friendship, for granted. I hurt you so many times, and yet you continued to see the best in me, even though I never deserved it.” He brought their hands to his chest. “Dinah Laurel Lance, you are my soulmate, the person I love the most. I want to be the best version of myself for you if you’ll let me,” he pleaded, tears spilling down his cheeks. He moved one hand to her face, tracing his thumb over her cheek. “It doesn’t have to be now. I know there’s so much that you need to do to get back to some semblance of normal, but maybe in the future?”

Laurel sniffled again and wiped a finger across her eyes to clear her vision. “I want you, Ollie. I love you, and I want us to try again, but what about Felicity?”

“I realized what I felt for her wasn’t like what I felt for you. When you died, when I _ thought _ you died, it was like a piece of me was ripped out and thrown away, and I didn’t think anything could fill that void. I want this. I will wait as long as I have to for a second chance at us.”

Laurel nodded, a watery laugh escaping. “I want a second chance at us. I do.” 

She laughed harder, and then it turned into sobs and Oliver pulled her into his arms again.

“There’s just so much I need to do first,” she whispered against his chest when she had finally calmed down. “I need to tell my parents. And Sara, if she doesn’t already know - what with all the time travel stuff. And Thea,” she rattled off, her laser focused voice turning on. “And then there’s all the legal stuff regarding my death. Getting a judge to overturn my death certificate. Wait, how long have I been gone? I’m assuming there was a funeral? And-”

“Hey, hey, slow down,” Oliver chuckled heartily, looking at her in pure adoration. 

That determination, the drive to get right down to business, that was their Laurel. His Laurel. God, how he had missed her. 

“We’ll get that all figured out, starting tomorrow,” he promised, leaning in to press a kiss to her head. “We’ll get it sorted, but we both need to sleep.” He glanced at the clock on the wall and grimaced, seeing it was nearing four am. 

“Is my apartment still mine? Or Thea’s, anyways? Or should I find somewhere else to stay?”

Oliver shook his head. “No, you can stay here. With me. At least for tonight. And then tomorrow, we’ll get everything sorted.”

Laurel’s brows furrowed and she looked at him inquisitively. “You’ve been staying here?”

“It’s a long story, and I’ll explain it all later, I promise. Just right, I want to get into my bed and hold you and never let you go.”

Laurel smiled softly. “I would love nothing more.” 

Oliver nodded and pulled her in for a kiss, a real one this time, putting all of his emotions behind. “I will be better for you, Laurel.”

Laurel nodded against him. “I know. We have time to work everything out. We’ll do it right this time.”

Oliver nodded, and for the first time in the months since he thought he’d lost one of the most important people in his life, he was at peace.


	2. Thea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea finds out Laurel is alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, hello, I am back with another installment. Apologies if this isn't as good as the last chapter, though.
> 
> A note: I went back and added a few little details to the previous chapter that makes it take place after the whole Dominators story. Canonically, this would be taking place roughly around 5x09. However, it is the original Laurel Lance we all know and love. Black Siren will not be a part of this AU.

“Are you sure we can’t just stay here by ourselves for a bit longer?” Oliver asked as he paced the room of the cave. 

They were waiting for Thea to arrive at the cave to tell her. Oliver had run a blood test, comparing this Laurel’s blood to a sample on file with the Star City hospital. It had come back as a match, and every doubt he’d had about this not being his Laurel dissipate. 

Lauren shook her head with a small sigh. “People need to know. You can’t get a hold of my parents, so Thea is the next most important person.”

Oliver blew out a breath and paused his movement. “Yeah, you’re right. I think Thea took your... death the hardest. Next to your dad.” He rubbed the back of his head. “We all did. And, your return is coming back at a really, really weird time.”

“How so?” Laurel crossed her arms and rested on the desk, a brow quirked in curiosity.

He grinned, that was definitely a signature trait of hers. “Well, we kind of got roped up in an alien invasion involving multiple universes.”

“Uh, what?”

“I know. It sounds insane,” Oliver replied, holding a hand up to stop her line of questioning, “but Barry apparently went to a different universe a while ago and befriended their hero, and then we got involved. And there were these aliens that held me, Thea, Dig, Ray, and Sara were all trapped in some dream world.”

Laurel nodded slowly, her eyes wide in confusion and disbelief. “That sounds… pretty intense.”

Oliver huffed out a laugh. “You could say that,” he agreed as his voice began to shake. He rubbed his face and looked back to Laurel. “I didn’t want to leave, in all honesty.”

“Why not?”

“You were alive. And we were getting married.”

Laurel flinched back in shock. “What?”

Oliver shrugged and laughed wetly. “The Dominators, the aliens holding us in the dream world, they created a simulated reality. You were alive. We were about to get married.” He looked up, tears trailing down his face. “I almost didn’t leave, because how could I go back to a world where you weren’t?”

Laurel moved to stand in front of him. “Ollie,” she whispered.

He took her hand and kissed it softly. “I don’t think I can live in a world without you, Laurel. But this world needed me, and I couldn’t stay. And then you showed up last night,” he explained, his voice gravelly and low. “I just can’t believe this happened.”

“Maybe that’s why Sara went back,” Laurel replied, putting her forehead to Oliver’s. “I don’t know why or how, but she went back, and she brought me. I’m here now. I’m not leaving again.”

“I won’t let you. I am not letting you leave me again,” Oliver stated, wrapping his arms around Laurel’s neck. “I will not live in a world without you again, Dinah Laurel Lance.”

“Ollie?” Thea’s voice sounded from the stairwell.

Oliver pulled back as Laurel went to hide in the hallway by the changing rooms.

Oliver wiped his eyes and turned back as Thea entered the room. “Hey, Thea.”

“What’s wrong?” the younger Queen asked, immediately on alert. 

Oliver shook his head and smiled. “It’s nothing bad. I promise.”

“Okay, but you were crying.”

“Yes, but it’s not a bad crying, I swear,” he promised. “I just really need you to not freak out when I show you why I was crying, okay?”

“But you admit you were crying.”

Oliver sighed exasperatedly. “Yes, Thea. I was crying. Are you going to let me show you why?”

“If it’s another world ending disaster, I don’t want to know about it.”

“If I said it was someone important to us?” Oliver questioned as he eyed Laurel stepping out from the hallway she had hidden in.

“Who would that be?”

“Turn around.” Oliver said as he pointed over his sister’s shoulder.

He watched as the younger woman complied, and he noticed her body tense as she gasped loudly.

“Lau- Laurel?” Thea asked, bewildered. She shook her head frantically. “No. No, you’re dead. No. You’re dead.” She put her hands to her head shook her head even more. “We watched you die.  _ No _ .”

Laurel gave a small smile. “It’s me, Speedy. I swear.”

Thea opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She looked to her brother helplessly. 

Oliver nodded. “It’s her, Thea. We did a blood test this morning. She’s our Laurel.”

Thea let out a strangled noise that was something of a cry of joy, grief, and relief before she launched herself out the older woman.

Laurel grunted softly as she staggered back, wrapping her arms around Thea as the younger woman broke down into sobs. “I’m here, Thea. I’m here,” she whispered as she ran a hand through Thea’s hair softly. 

Thea hugged tighter and whispered hoarsely, “You’re really here. You’re actually here.”

“I’m here, Speedy. I’m not going anywhere.”

The younger woman pulled away and wiped her eyes, sniffling loudly. “How?” she questioned dazedly. “How are you here? You were dead.” She looked to Oliver panic-stricken. “Are we back in that dream world? Are we going to lose her all over again?”

Oliver shook his head. “No, this isn’t that dream world. Laurel is really here,” he promised.

“Sara brought me back,” Laurel answered. “I’m not sure how she managed it.” She frowned for a moment in thought. “I probably don’t  _ want _ to know how she managed it. She probably broke a lot of rules bringing me back. I just know that she did, and I’m here with you.”

Thea moved in for another hug, pressing herself as close to Laurel as possible. “You can’t leave again,” she mumbled into Laurel’s shoulder. “It was miserable without you, Laurel. You can’t die again.”

Laurel sighed and pressed a kiss to Thea’s forehead. “I can’t promise that, Speedy. You know that,” she reasoned softly. “I will do my best to not die any time soon, though.”

Thea nodded. “Good. But I will be very upset if you break that promise.” She looked up with teary eyes and sniffled again. “You owe me so many movie nights.”

Laurel laughed, a hearty, boisterous laugh that made Oliver’s heart swell and his chest feel light.

Laurel glanced back to him with a light in her eyes, green orbs shining bright as she smiled before looking back at the younger Queen. “I think I can make them up to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you enjoyed, let me know what you think. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully you enjoyed, let me know what you think. :)
> 
> I'm considering writing more chapters for the various people who would learn of Laurel's return (Thea, Lance, etc), so if any of you are interested in that, please leave a comment. Otherwise, this is complete as is.
> 
> There's various ways of how time travel works, and I haven't ever watched Legends of Tomorrow, so I don't know how it works in that show. There's the question of if Sara would know that she brought Laurel back, or if she returned to the original timeline where Laurel died, and as of right now I don't have an answer for that. If I continue this, I'll probably figure out a way to address that.


End file.
